Parishioners at St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church in the City of Poughkeepsie, along with their fellow Christians around the world, have begun the countdown to the most important day of their religious calendar.

Palm Sunday kicked off Holy Week, which culminates this coming Sunday with Easter, the day on which Christians believe their savior, Jesus Christ, rose from the dead nearly 2,000 years ago.

The belief that Jesus rose from the dead after the crucifixion forms the basis of Christian faith.

“A lot of people think of Palm Sunday as having a worldly significance, those who believe that, with the palms, Christ is on Earth,” said Gertrude Wtulich of the City of Poughkeepsie as she made her way into the 10:30 a.m. Mass at St. Joseph’s on Sunday.

Palm Sunday for Christians marks the day on which Jesus arrived in Jerusalem, in advance of his betrayal, arrest, crucifixion and resurrection.

His followers, as they would have done for visiting royalty at the time, greeted him with palms.

Underscoring Sunday’s significance for Christians were palm trees on either side of the altar at St. Joseph’s, as well as palms that were distributed to members of the congregation.

“Today is the beginning of the Easter season and spring,” said Jean Ramsey of the City of Poughkeepsie, as she made her way into the service, “and I feel very blessed to be here.”

During Mass, the Rev. Jacek Nowak, pastor at St. Joseph’s, blessed the palms.

He also led the congregation in a spoken word re-enactment of Christ’s final hours before his crucifixion.

Reading from a missal, Nowak was joined by those assembled in a retelling of Christ’s betrayal by one of his apostles, his arrest, death sentence and crucifixion on a cross.

“Today, we are in happiness with Jesus, on Palm Sunday,” Nowak said following the Mass. “But on Good Friday, when Jesus was crucified, nobody followed him. We mention that people love him, but only for a very short time. The meaning for Palm Sunday is, please don’t follow after Jesus for only a few minutes. Try to follow him responsibly the whole of your life.”